Samus' adventure unfolds as your new ship docks with the Biological Space Labs station. Your mission: to investigate the distress call, which reports of an explosion in the Quarantine Bay. If this is your first time at the controls of Samus, hit the Start button now and take a moment to familiarize yourself with the handy map interface. You can scroll the map using the control pad, and press the A button to get a quick synopsis of your current mission objective. Remember to check your map and objective frequently while playing to help keep yourself oriented within the labyrinth of the space station.

Your computer has just highlighted the location of your first objective on the map, so move out. The path should be quick and painless, as you won't find any enemies at this early point. Since you have a moment to breathe, you might consider taking this time to practice Samus basic moves, such as wall jumping and hanging from ledges.

Make your way up, to the left, and into the first Navigation Room (marked with an "N" on the map). Stand on the center of the platform here to interface with the terminal. Your computer will keep you updated on the status of your mission throughout the game using these Navigation Rooms, so be sure to check-in whenever one is nearby. Besides, it's nice for Samus to have some company for a change.

Keep moving up, to the left, and then back down toward the Quarantine Bay. Inside, you'll find your first baddie to blast: a Hornoad. Squelch his life signs with no remorse. Once you do, you'll also encounter your first X organism -- grab it to replenish any energy you might have lost in the fight. Hit the Start button and check your objectives for an update: "Hostile creature sighted. Report to Navigation Room." Head back and check in with your computer.

Objective 2: X parasite presence confirmed. Find origin of bio-signs.

As your computer so tactfully mentioned, Samus is currently only at 10% fighting strength. Regardless, your instructions are now to exterminate a newly detected batch of parasites on the far east of the map. Think you can handle it?

Exit the Navigation Room to the right, and then head up, to the right, and into your first Save Station. Save Stations are your lifeblood. It deserves mentioning again that you should always go out of your way to save your progress whenever possible. You'll be glad you did.

Step onto the platform and hit the A button to make the save. Exit to the right and keep moving up, to the right, and into the next Navigation Room. (Feel free to blast any Zombie Researchers threatening your path.) Your computer has some new intel you'll be glad to hear.

Objective 3: Missile Data ready. Download immediately.

Much to your delight, Headquarters is ready to send you a weapons upgrade before you must eliminate the alien life signs. Throughout the adventure, Samus will receive such weapon upgrades by downloading them in a specified Data Room. Your computer has now marked the Data Room of choice on your map, and it is located in the upper area of the Main Deck, known as the Operations Deck. Make your way up one story and to the right, and you'll discover the elevator shaft that will lift you to this new area.

During the quick elevator ride, Samus will deliver the first of a couple in-game monologues, this time regarding her computer and a former Commanding Officer (CO). Although not critical to your mission, tuck these juicy digressions into the back of your brain for future savoring.

Once you've reached the upper level, head out the hatch to the left and into the larger room. From here, Samus will encounter two new types of rooms in addition to the previously discovered Save Stations and Navigation Rooms. Run straight across the large, open area and into the ground-floor hatch on the left, and you'll find the Recharge Station (marked with an "R" on the map). Here, as the name suggests, Samus will quickly fill all health and weapons ammo to maximum capacity. Keep a sharp eye out for these lifesavers throughout your quest.

Jog one more room to the left to save your progress, then head back into the larger room to continue onward. Climb up and to the left, and enter the second story hatch. In this Navigation Room, your computer will drop a bombshell of common sense by informing you that the "Data Room is just ahead." Apparently, in space, even computers get lonely. Take this helpful hint, and run to the left and into the next room.

Here you'll find the Data Room, used for downloading Samus' many weapon and suit upgrades. Step onto the platform to download the missile data. Samus may now fire missiles by holding the R button and firing with the B button. Missiles fire more slowly than your standard beam, but are much more powerful, as well. Pay attention to the number of remaining missiles at the top of the screen, as you'll only start with 10 until you collect additional Missile Tanks in the future. Now, head back into the Navigation Room.

Just what you were hoping for: a power failure. It appears that unseen forces are already working against your efforts to eliminate the X, as you must now search for a new path to the enemy location instead of simply taking the elevator back down. Not a problem. Head right and back into the large room. Jump to the right from the second story hatch, and continue right across the two elevated platforms. Here, you'll find an inconspicuously glowing red wall. Shoot it with a missile to clear a path. But before you press on, remember the recent words of wisdom from your computer: "I'm reading huge bio-signs, so I hope your Missiles work..." With that in mind, you might consider topping off your weapons supply at the Recharge Station before you continue. And while you're there -- save.

Head back to the newly created hole in the wall, and jump right in. Moving to the right, you'll find a large, inanimate, brain-like creature blocking your path. Take it out with three missiles, and continue to the right. Here, you'll find your first batch of Pit Blocks that will crumble beneath your feet and drop you to the level below. Continue zigzagging downward, and freely blast the walls around you to open any necessary paths.

If you press the Start button and take a look at your map, you'll notice that your current location is within a green region of the map, indicating that you have found a previously uncharted, secret area. Pay attention to your map throughout the game, and be sure to fully explore all secret areas you find in the future, as they contain many important items and passageways.

Near the bottom of this hidden route, you'll find your first instance of a ladder. In Metroid Fusion, Samus can grab onto ladders by jumping at them and holding towards the ladder. Ladders are often found both vertically (as in this case) and horizontally along the roof, so keep pressing toward them in either case to latch on. From the ladder, Samus can aim in five different directions, fire, climb, and jump off with the A button. Climb this ladder to the top and keep holding up on the control pad to pull yourself neatly onto the platform above. Now jump off the edge to the right, and continue moving downward toward the target objective.

After falling a short ways down, you'll land on a platform with a Missile Tank. Grab it to increase your stash of missiles by five. While you're here, hit the Start button to check out your map; a small, white dot labels your current location, representing the secret item you've just found. Likewise, rooms with a small circle represent secrets that you have not yet found. Again, pay attention to your map at all costs, and don't leave an area until you've turned all circles into dots by finding the hidden goodies.

Case in point: jump to the level below and head to the room on your left. Checking your map, you'll notice the white circle labeling this otherwise vacant room. That's right -- time to search for a secret item. Blast the top corner of the stair-stepped blocks on your left to snag another Missile Tank. Try not to waste this newfound stash of missiles between here and your mission objective -- you're going to need them later.

Head back along the bottom and to the right, and you'll reemerge in the station's well-lit Main Deck area. Check your map here, and you'll find a Save Station directly above you. Climb up there, and use it. Now, head back down to the bottom floor and deal with the few X-infested zombies lurking about. As you defeat them, pay attention to the colors of the X parasites that float away. Yellow ones will fill your energy, and green will give you weapons ammo (such as missiles and bombs). Red parasites are the cream of the crop, giving you both energy and ammo -- and lots of it. Make an extra effort to snag the red ones whenever you see them.

These zombies will continually revive themselves, as nearby X parasites fly to their slain corpses, so don't spend too much time trying to eradicate them. Instead, keep moving to the right, where you must face a large eyeball creature that is guarding the hatch. You can only defeat this blinking monstrosity when its beady, black pupils are showing. Wait for the right time and plug a missile in its socket. It will take three missiles to get rid of him permanently, so stay focused, jump its energy blasts when the pupil doesn't show, and keep mowing down those zombies.

Once the eye is gone, head through the hatch to the right and into the large room where your map indicates the target is located. Here, you'll be faced with a series of ledges, and there is a key concept to master with these if you hope to survive what is to come. Jump up and grab the first of these ledges by holding toward it on the control pad. As you hang from it, press away from the wall on the control pad, and Samus will crouch against the wall in a preparation to jump. Continue holding away from the wall, and press the A button to leap to the next ledge. Continue this pattern until you've reached the third ledge, where you must press up on the control pad to climb on top of the column itself. Remember this technique.

Move on to the right, using this hanging jump method to reach another platform that holds your first Energy Tank -- another much needed gift. Grab it to add a bar of energy (i.e. 100 energy points) to your reserves. Now, walk to the edge of the platform the Energy Tank was on and shoot two missiles right above you. Jump up into the hole and to the right to find a second Energy Tank. Be glad for this, as you run to the right and fall to the room below.

The enemy threat is discovered: Arachnus, a native beast of SR388 that has been possessed by the X. Arachnus attacks with fire, a slashing beam of energy, and an earth-shaking ball attack. Defeating it isn't as tough as it looks, so long as you remember your jump moves from before. Hang from either edge and wait for Arachnus to move below Samus. Jump to the other side of the room before it can slam into the wall with its ball-rolling move (which will knock Samus down), and fire a missile directly into its belly when it turns around to face you. Don't get greedy -- you will typically only be able to tag the creature with a single missile before it counterattacks with either a slashing or ball attack. Just fire a single missile and jump back to safety on the ledge and ready to jump across the room again. Keep this pattern alive until you've depleted your missiles, and then continue with your blaster if necessary.

Once Arachnus is defeated, you must eliminate the remaining Core-X with three well-placed missiles to earn your prize. If your missile reserves are empty, then hit the Core-X with your blasters to release a few X parasites (look for the green ones) and fill up. As the Core-X swoops by, fire off a quick missile, and then quickly jump to avoid taking damage. Once its shell is down, jump to grab the Core-X and receive the Morph Ball ability. As in the previous Metroid titles before, you can now hit the down arrow on the control pad twice to roll Samus into ball form. Doing so allows her to slip into cracks and reach even more secret areas and learn other new abilities ball-related abilities.

Now that you've dealt with the enemy threat, it's time to check in with the computer via the closest Navigation Room. Put that ball to use, and roll to the left and out of the room. Continue to jump, roll, and climb your way to the left. Eventually, you'll come to what appears to be a narrow passage that's blocked off. Climb the ladder opposite the ledge, aim to the left, and blast the two fake blocks to clear the path. Continue moving to the left, and you'll emerge back in the Main Deck. On the way back to the Navigation Room above you, be sure to stop by the Save Station along the way. If you're low on energy, you can also blast the green, brain-like creature on the platform just before the Navigation Room to reveal a Recharge Station. Should you decide to recharge, then you might as well follow it up with another good save before pressing upward to the Navigation Room.

"Samus, it's as I feared." Your computer has some bad news. The X have invaded the station's breeding grounds, and this news is only going to make a bad situation worse for Samus. You've got no time to loose -- head to Sector 1 (SRX) and deal with the outbreak as only Samus can: with lethal force. Your destination is the station's Main Elevator, which leads to the hub of elevators that tie the various sectors of the space station together. Deep within these diverse catacombs is where your true adventure awaits.

Exit the Navigation Room to the left, making your way back down to the Save Station below you. As you pass through to the left, go ahead and pop a quick save. Head down and to the left again to cross the second Navigation Room. No need to stop and chat with your computer here, but feel free to do so should you need a refresher on the drama. Exiting the Navigation Room to the left, you'll need to head upward to progress -- but wait. There's another hatch here, just across from the Navigation Room. If you decide to check out this Sub-Zero Containment room, then be warned: you won't survive for long due to your suit's inability to fight the harsh arctic chill. But on the other hand, there's a very familiar face waiting on the inside that Metroid fans will definitely recognize. It's worth the pain, so check it out and don't stay for long.

Once you're back on the move, head up the shaft and look for a small, ball-sized opening immediately on your right. Roll along inside to grab another Missile Tank, and then head back outside to press on toward the elevators. Keep moving up and to the left, rolling and blasting hatches as needed, until you come to the Main Elevator. Stand on the lift and press down on the control pad to descend to the Sector 1 elevator shaft. As Samus heads down, you'll witness a rather disturbing cutscene that should evoke a small amount of confusion and fear -- as well it should. Continue down the elevator anyway, and then run to the left and hop onto the Sector 1 elevator: going down. When it arrives, head into the Navigation Room on the right to see what your computer has to say about the unsettling event above.